Affordable-housing project proposed for Sacramento railyard

A developer is planning a 200-unit affordable-housing project for the downtown Sacramento railyard, the dormant 240-acre district waiting to come to life.

USA Properties Fund Inc., a Roseville developer of affordable housing, expects to submit plans next week to city officials for the four-story complex, to be called Metro Crossing.

The project, consisting of one- and two-bedroom apartments, would sit at Seventh and G streets, near the southeastern corner of the railyard. A five-story parking garage is also part of the blueprint, along with two courtyards, a clubhouse and swimming pool.

Never miss a local story.

USA hopes to break ground on the roughly $50 million project in summer 2016, said company President Geoffrey Brown. The company already owns and manages seven other affordable-housing projects in the city.

Metro Crossing is envisioned as “a very urban project,” Brown said. “You’re going to have a lot of singles and couples in the tenant base. ... These are working people (serving) the downtown economy.”

The plan for the railyard has long included some affordable housing, along with several thousand units of market-rate housing. The railyard obtained millions of dollars in state funding for road-building and other infrastructure improvements, contingent on building affordable housing. Brown said the Metro Crossing project would satisfy anywhere from one-third to one-half of the requirement.

The proposal represents the latest sign that the railyard is poised to spring to life after decades of frustration for city officials. Momentum has been building in recent months, particularly with the proposal by Sacramento Republic FC to build a 22,000-seat stadium in the northeast corner of the railyard. The plan will go forward if Sacramento secures a Major League Soccer expansion team.

Sacramento developer Larry Kelley, a minority investor in the soccer team, is in the process of buying the railyard from an Illinois real estate trust.